Ted,
The account you have given on how to install a tubular tire is
exactly the method I was taught by Faliero himself. I mounted at
least 200 tires this way while working at Masi and there wasn't a
speck of glue on a single tire. The reason was simple; Falieros'
penality for glue on a tire was first clamping your fingers in a
vice, then burning you with a tourch, a stint inside the sandblaster,
a coat of paint on your body; then he'd figure out a way to hurt you.
Needless to say, I did it his way and made sure glue never met the
sidewall of the tires.
BTW, we did put glue on the base tape of the tires, after rubbing the
basetape with the side of a file to remove any latex and prep the
tape to allow the glue to soak in. We brushed the glue on with a flue
brush and reduced it slightly as neccessary with contact cement
reducer.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA I've actually seen someone get tire glue in their nostrals using
improper glueing proceedures!
T f T T o T Time for Ted's Tips on Tubulars Ready to roll again. When I get ready to glue my tire on the rim, I usually take a small
tool, go betwen the tire and rim and stretch it out by pulling on my
instrument to give me a nice comfortable mounting experience.
I only saw this briefly written in all the posts, but it's much
easier
to stretch the tire on if you inflate the tire to about 20/30 # so
the
casing is round and holdable in your hands. on some tires it may be
40.
This you will have to determine for yourselves as to what's
comfortable
to hold and not collapse in your firm grip as you begin the exercise. If you put a coat on the rim only, wait a little before sticking the
tire on and let the glue set up a little for good sticking.
If you also put some on the tire remember to stretch the tire just
before you remove it from the rim so it will go on easier with two
wet
coats, because it's messier if you faux pas. Also note that it's easier to precoat your basetape with the tire
rounded for practical and less messy application. With your tire now prepared and ready to put on, I have found that
the
best for me is to set the wheel on the floor and lean it against
your
legs / knees with the valve hole at the top.
Insert the valve. Hold the rounded tire equidistantly from the valve in both hands and
with equal pressure start to stretch the tire down the rim keeping it
in
balance against you, centering the base tape evenly in the well of
the
rim while letting your hand slide along the tire, BUT NOT letting the
tire back up and lose it's stretch. This is usually accomplished with
heel of hand pressure against tire pushing it into well. Fingers
pull /
stretch, heel of hand keeps tire from backsliding. As you are pulling the tire down the pressure on your hands and and
eyeballs will increase as you're bending over.
Now you're with the program. Make sure as you are pulling the tire down that your valve is staying
straight.
If it's moving crooked then pull on the side you need to straighten
more
to get it straight and keep sliding your hands down the tire untill
you
approach the bottom. You should be able to have enough tire stretch to pop it over the rim
without smearing the basetape along the rim and making a mess. Ideally your valve will be straight, tire reaonsbly centered and
sidewalls will be clean. One word of advice. As you are stretching the tire over you are
thinning
it out a little. So, keep the tire in your hands and shrink the
little
excess back up along the rim to even out the circumference. You will probably have to prop the wheel on your knees while
stretching
the tire over the last inches to make it easier to handle.
You basically bend your knees a little and lift the wheel off the
ground
enough to finish the job. You can certainly hold the tire against the bench or worktable to do
your tire mounting, BUT be VERY careful not to slide off under
pressure!
Aaargh, S.., F..! You get what I mean! Now inflate the tire about half full, spin the wheel and straighten
and
center the tire. If your valve is crooked you could put a small screwdriver between
rim
and tire, hold the wheel down with your feet and run the tool along
the
rim while lifting and stretching the tire till the valve is straight
and
then pull tool out and continue the process. It's taking me longer to write this than to put a tire on! I hope this blow by blow description makes it easier to do the job,
It
sound like a lot but it's actually quite straightforward and easy
when
done a few times. When tire is straight and centered spin the wheel and see if your
tire
has a low or high spot. If it does you will have to take both hands
and
stretch or pull tire to even it out. the casings usually have enough
elastity to do this. The lighter the tire the easier it is. The rounder the tire is the less you would feel any uneveness while
riding on smooth surfaces. When this is done inflate tire to about 80% full. Enough to seat tire
and get good tension on it, but not so tight as to force the glue out
and leave you shy inside. Another reason to have the first coats dry
and
hard. At this time take your wheel and put your weight onto it with your
hand
and ride / roll it back and forth all the way around so that your
weight will seat tire nicely into the well of the rim. Make it a habit to check your tires after your ride and make sure
nothing is sticking in or cut in the casing or tire that would
compromise your next ride. Nothing will drive you crazier than
grabbing
your bike to go riding, and finding a flat tire. You can do this during the ride if you stop for food or whatever,
ALWAYS
check tires for malaise, Ounce of prevention. That's the first thing you do when getting back from the ride. The first thing you do when leaving is to check your tire pressure,
and
when you get on the bike see where the WIND is coming from so you
will
know HOW to ride that day. I enjoyed writing this up, trust it will take some of the "mystery"
out
of this process. Please ask if you have some point I didn't write clearly enough or if
you have any related Q's.
I enjoyed the posts about the pedals and quills, btw.
Thanks for joining in.
Safe Riding.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates
CA USA